WHY AM I WATCHING PORNOGRAPHY AT MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT?

07 Sep WHY AM I WATCHING PORNOGRAPHY AT MY FAVORITE RESTAURANT?

What is this world coming to? Do we have to view pornographic images everywhere we go? Are there not family friendly environments anymore?

I am not one who is usually easy to anger – but I am angry! I am so tired of being exposed to pornography when I am out in public areas such as at the gym, retail stores, or restaurants. Today I went into one of my favorite restaurants to have lunch, and while I was standing in line, a huge television screen is showing girls in g-strings walking on the beach and zooming in on the girl’s “buttocks”. I was mortified and quickly thought how thankful I was that my husband and teenage boys were not with me. I purposely choose to not go into restaurants such as Hooters to avoid the sexualization – and here I am watching a naked girl on the screen in a family friendly restaurant – how did this happen?

How did our society get so desensitized, that a restaurant chain feels comfortable showing these images while customers wait in line to be served food? Is this madness or what? Less than ten years ago these images were mainly found beneath a covered Playboy magazine at the local gas station – and now we are viewing them in family friendly restaurants!

A similar experience happened several years back when I withdrew my membership at a local “family friendly” gym because I was so infuriated and disgusted by the fact that during workouts the facility would show what I would classify as R or X-rated music videos on a wall screen visible to the majority of the facility. I asked the facility to reconsider showing the videos as there were many what the world calls “conservative” moms and also many children and teenagers that frequented the facility. Once I realized that the videos would not be removed, I withdrew my membership and went to another chain that did not have pornographic images in view. I wrote a letter to the facility specifically detailing why I left. I know that many others disagreed with the music videos, but chose to look the other way and not take a stand.

I call upon all concerned citizens to take a stand! Of course it is easier to not say anything or to just look the other way – but look where that is getting us. Pretty soon we won’t be able to even go into restaurant chains to buy our kids a happy meal without viewing pornography. We have to speak up and withdraw our patronage when appropriate.

Today I came right home from the restaurant and emailed my concern about the video being shown. If the restaurant chooses to continue showing the video, not only will I stop patronizing their restaurant, but I will work through family friendly organizations, such as United Families to alert other customers about the indecency of the video and to petition for others to not support such restaurants.

I hope that the letter makes a difference – I will keep you posted!

Tags:

2 Comments

Amy

Yeay! Even one person can make a difference~I no longer go into restaurants that have television period (needless to say we don’t eat out much~and we really don’t miss it). The commercials alone are enough to desensitize us not only where mass sexualization of everything is concerned, but with violence as well.

When we teach ourselves and our children to create “filters” in the mind and refuse to be around or view the constant visuals paraded before us, the action steps for taking a stand will naturally follow. So while those who choose to be passive or consume the constant images that cause such damage to the mind and soul, our family will have “minds of steel” which will one day prove to be more powerful than all the filth thrown in our faces!

Meagan

Thank you so much for this. I have no idea what to do about a clothing store chain that keeps playing x-rated music no matter which of their stores I’m in. It was hard to stop shopping there because they sell clothes I love at very low prices, but I did it. I tried to explain how I felt in the business rating comments online but they deleted my account because of it, and it wasn’t an angry or dishonest comment. I tried contacting another family organization that is supposed to stand up against this stuff to seek their advice, but they wouldn’t tell me what to do. I would petition, but everyone else is like, “just grab what you want and get out of there fast, you don’t need to ‘listen’ to it.” But that doesn’t work for me because I take forever to decide and my mind is the type that is sensitive and notices when things are amiss. Plus what I buy goes right back into the business to pay for the teenagers who work there and pick the music which supports the “artists” (I know that’s indirect) which bothers me. I don’t know why the entire chain seems to keep hiring girls who aren’t very decent and don’t take care of themselves, as it’s not “punk”-style clothing they are selling. The chain is growing rapidly and is VERY successful especially in this economy for their discounted prices and I just don’t think I would pose much of a threat to them complaining all by myself. I don’t know what to do, do you have any suggestions?